


Ruin

by s4m_1hat



Series: Bmblb One-shots [5]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, F/F, just buckle in I guess, second chapter coming soon it may or may not get better, specifically all that Yangst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-25
Updated: 2020-11-25
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:21:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27713308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/s4m_1hat/pseuds/s4m_1hat
Summary: We return to Yang and the gang after the chaos that was Volume 8 Episode 2 (obvious spoilers ahead)Somehow, scarier things happen.
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long, Lie Ren/Nora Valkyrie
Series: Bmblb One-shots [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1704271
Comments: 16
Kudos: 34





	Ruin

They were on a mission. 

Yang had her sights set firmly on the retreating figure of the terrifying creature - whatever it was, it wasn’t playing around. They continued on, relentlessly pursuing the winged beast, until they came at an impasse.

The sky took on a sinister shade of crimson; the dark shadows creating a curtain concealing anything within - almost as if they were stepping through a barrier to another dimension. 

Once the shadows dissipated on the other side however, they were faced with a jagged cliff edge, descending into a mass of black stretching across the entire chasm before them. And in the distance, they stared helplessly, as the divide between them and Oscar’s captor grew. 

Silence engulfed them, a thick tension permeating the air, settling into their lungs. 

What would they do now? They couldn’t just... give up. Could they? 

Yang and Jaune were startled out of their reverie by the sound of an outraged cry from behind them. 

Ren, it seemed, was taking it the hardest. They watched pitifully as he swung his blades over and over into the hard rock surface of the rubble beside them, shouts of frustration and sheer rage ripping through his vocal chords. 

“Ren! Ren- Stop!” Jaune pleaded, “This won’t change anything! You’re just attracting the Grimm.” 

“What does it matter? Oscar’s gone! We’re exhausted, and we’re out of options!” He seethed, words spitting like venom through his clenched teeth. 

Yang stood, dumbfounded, at a complete loss as to what to do next. Jaune looked to her for assistance, and she released a shuddered sigh.

“Our best bet right now would be to retreat. We obviously can’t do anything from here, so we need to get back with the others and make a plan. Soon.” 

Ren’s head snapped in her direction.

“You want to just leave!? We have no idea what that thing is capable of! Or if Oscar will still be in one piece to rescue when we return! We have to-“

“-Do what?! Stand here? Hope that our Grimm friend decides to make a U-Turn; ask us for directions?! You saw what that thing did to us! It batted us off like flies! I don’t think we’d be doing ourselves any favours by waiting around. Like you said, we’re exhausted. And we’re not in any condition to fight something like that. Not tonight.” 

There’s a beat, and then, 

“Maybe Ironwood was right.” 

Silence.

Yang and Jaune stared at Ren’s back in utter shock, willing for him to turn around and say he was joking. 

But they weren’t in any sort of mood to be cracking jokes. 

“You- you can’t be serious.” Yang stuttered out. 

“Ren... you don’t mean that.” Jaune tried, eyes pleading for his friend to see reason. 

He let out a long, suffering sigh, still facing away from them and made his way to the Hoverbike. 

“Let’s just... head back.” He stated in lieu of explanation, and the others followed in his stead, choosing not to broach the subject again.

/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / 

They’d been riding through the tundra for almost 20 minutes when Jaune comes to a steady halt in front of them. 

The city of Mantle loomed on the Horizon before the setting sun, looking darker and more desolate the closer they got. 

“What are we going to tell the others?” He whispers, barely loud enough for Ren and Yang to pick up over the sound of the whistling wind. 

“We... we tell them the truth. We did everything we could.” 

“What if that’s not good enough?” Ren cuts in, a bite in his tone. 

“It has to be.” Yang retorts, curtly. 

She walks over to Jaune, who stood with his head buried in his armour-clad hands. The reality was finally starting to set in. 

“Jaune...” She chances, placing a hand on his shoulder. “We’ll get him back. I promise.” 

She offers him a tender smile, until a flicker of movement catches her attention. 

Squinting out into the tundra, she detects a blurry figure slowly but surely advancing on their position. 

All at once, blades are raised, gauntlets are cocked, and fighting stances are readied, baleful glares locking on their assailant. 

They’d been followed. 

Yang is focusing in on the figure, attempting to create a clear image, when her breath leaves her body in one burst. No sound leaves her lips as she fixates dazedly in the distance. 

All sound filters out, slowly, then all at once, leaving behind a muted audio, as if Yang had dipped her head underwater. She could hear the muffled, panicked voices calling her name in alarm, while her body remained stock still; arms hanging limply at her sides. 

She slumps to her knees in the snow, shock and anguish settling deep into her bones, making her feel heavy; lethargic. 

She’d know that face anywhere. That stance. That calm disposition. That light-footed gait. Only she didn’t believe she’d ever get to see it again. 

The white of her cape billows out behind her, the starkness of it standing out against the ivory snow crunching beneath her feet. She looked very much like the super hero Yang always remembered her to be.

Faintly, like an afterimage, there appears a pair of scissors, blonde strands caught between the blades. There’s a red apron, the smell of baked goods, and steam escaping from an oven.  
Then there’s a sunset, a solitary headstone and the beating of a birds wings. And accompanying it, complete silence. 

“M-mom?” She chokes out, coming back into herself as tears flood down her frosted cheeks. 

The effigy looms resolutely over her kneeling frame, the angelic aura consuming Yang whole, and she momentarily basks in its familiarity. 

Looking up, lilac eyes finally meeting burning silver, both familiar and foreign at the same time, she croaks, 

“How... Where did- You’re not real... You can’t be.” 

A sweet smile stretches across that porcelain canvas, and she reaches out to graze Yang’s jaw affectionately. 

Then the smoke clears, and the illusion is broken, as she materialises into particles before Yang’s eyes.

Recognition flickers in those lavender irises for a mere fraction of a second before her head is jerked violently to the side, sending her tumbling backwards, unconscious. 

The fraud makes quick work of the other two stragglers before hopping away, leaving behind three human-sized indents in the snow.


End file.
